Josef Meri, Author at Bridge Initiative

25 Apr 2025 | Politics

Bridging Worlds: Reflections on Teaching, Dialogue, and the University’s Role

As a historian of the Middle East and a historian of religions, my scholarship and teaching for over two decades have focused on the history of interfaith and interreligious relations, pluralism, and identity. Over this... read the complete article

Editorial

25 Mar 2025 | Organizations

Abraham’s Bridge: A Documentary Review of Interfaith Connection in America’s Heartland

In a world marked by conflict, division, and religious tension, "Abraham's Bridge" offers a compelling narrative of collaboration across faith traditions. This short documentary, running just under 40 minutes, produced and directed by Elinor J. Pierce, Research Director of the Harvard Pluralism Project (pluralism.org), chronicles the remarkable Tri-Faith Initiative in Omaha, Nebraska – an ambitious project to build a mosque, synagogue, church, and interfaith center side-by-side, connected by a circular wooden bridge. read the complete article

Editorial

09 Jan 2025 | Politics

Reflections on Interfaith Relations: A Decade After My Time as Allianz Visiting Professor at LMU: A Journey of Cultural Exchange

In the fall of 2013, I arrived in Germany as the Allianz Visiting Professor for Islamic Studies at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU), a role that marked a significant milestone in my academic career. This position, endowed by Allianz AG, was part of a continuing guest professorship for Jewish and Islamic Studies, aimed at bringing internationally renowned scholars to Munich to foster intercultural and inter-religious understanding. (Allianz Gastprofessur | Freunde islamischer Kunst) read the complete article